System for providing impressions based on consumer preferences for future promotions

ABSTRACT

Methods, apparatus, and computer program products are disclosed for providing an impression to a consumer based on consumer preferences for future promotions. The methods include accessing consumer preferences for future promotions that specify at least one promotion request relating to a provider or a promotion category, and one or more promotion qualities, analyzing a plurality of promotions to identify those that satisfy the consumer preferences, and providing an impression to the consumer indicating the availability of the identified promotions. In embodiments, the methods can be used to identify promotions that are combinable with additional promotions offered by the same provider. Corresponding apparatus and computer program products are also provided.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.14/211,840, titled “SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING IMPRESSIONS BASED ON CONSUMERPREFERENCES FOR FUTURE PROMOTIONS,” filed Mar. 14, 2014, the contents ofwhich are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

TECHNOLOGICAL FIELD

Example embodiments of the present invention relate generally toproviding an impression to a consumer for a promotion and, moreparticularly, to providing an impression indicating the availability ofat least one promotion that satisfies consumer preferences for futurepromotions.

BACKGROUND

Applicant has discovered problems with existing methods and systems forpromotion management. Through applied effort, ingenuity, and innovation,Applicant has solved many of these identified problems by developing asolution that is embodied by the present invention and described indetail below.

BRIEF SUMMARY

Accordingly, methods, apparatus, and computer program products areprovided for providing an impression indicating the availability of atleast one promotion that satisfies consumer preferences for futurepromotions.

In a first example embodiment, a method is provided. The method includesaccessing consumer preferences for future promotions, wherein theconsumer preferences specify at least one promotion request relating toa provider or a promotion category, and one or more promotion qualitiesthat are requested by the consumer in a future promotion, parsingmachine readable text relating to a plurality of promotions to extractone or more redemption parameters, analyzing the redemption parametersrelating to the plurality of promotions offered by a promotion andmarketing service to identify promotions that satisfy the consumerpreferences, wherein each of the provider, the promotion category, andthe promotion qualities of the plurality of promotions are compared tothe consumer preferences, and providing an impression to the consumerindicating the availability of the identified promotions that satisfythe consumer preferences.

In some embodiments, the consumer preferences for future promotions areprovided by the consumer.

In other embodiments, the consumer preferences for future promotions arepredicted based on the consumer's search history, purchase history,profile, location, favorites, or any combination thereof.

In some embodiments, the promotion category comprises a type of event, atype of good, a type of service, a type of experience, a specificlocation, a specific venue, or any combination thereof.

In some embodiments, the one or more promotion qualities comprises oneor more thresholds, one or more redemption parameters, or a combinationthereof.

In some embodiments, the one or more thresholds comprises a pricethreshold, a discount threshold, a quantity threshold, a provider ratingthreshold, a promotion duration threshold, or any combination thereof.

In some embodiments, the one or more redemption parameters comprises aterm, a constraint, a limitation, a rule, or timing for the redemptionof the future promotion by a provider.

In some embodiments, the one or more redemption parameters comprisescombinability of two or more promotions. In such embodiments, theanalyzing step of the method comprises analyzing the plurality ofpromotions to identify a first promotion that is combinable with atleast one additional promotion offered by the same provider, andanalyzing the plurality of promotions to identify at least oneadditional promotion that is combinable with the first promotion.

In some embodiments, combinability is determined by analyzing providerparameters, redemption parameters, database tags, promotion text, or anycombination thereof, to determine if the first promotion and the atleast one additional promotion can, or cannot, be combined with otherpromotions offered by the same provider.

In some embodiments, the first promotion and the at least one additionalpromotion are combinable for the same product, service, or experience,or are combinable for a different product, service, or experience.

In some embodiments, the identified promotions that satisfy the consumerpreferences comprise one or more redemption parameters.

In some embodiments, the identified promotions that satisfy the consumerpreferences comprise one or more promotion and marketing services.

In some embodiments, the identified promotions that satisfy the consumerpreferences comprise one or more provider parameters.

In another example embodiment, an apparatus is provided. The apparatusincludes a processor and a memory, the memory storing computer programcode that, when executed by the processor, causes the apparatus toaccess consumer preferences for future promotions, wherein the consumerpreferences specify at least one promotion request relating to aprovider or a promotion category, and one or more promotion qualitiesthat are requested by the consumer in a future promotion, parse machinereadable text relating to a plurality of promotions to extract one ormore redemption parameters, analyze the redemption parameters relatingto the plurality of promotions offered by a promotion and marketingservice to identify promotions that satisfy the consumer preferences,wherein each of the provider, the promotion category, and the promotionqualities of the plurality of promotions are compared to the consumerpreferences, and provide an impression to the consumer indicating theavailability of the identified promotions that satisfy the consumerpreferences.

In another example embodiment, a computer program product is provided.The computer program product includes a computer-readable storage mediumcomprising computer program code that, when executed by an apparatus,causes the apparatus to access consumer preferences for futurepromotions, wherein the consumer preferences specify at least onepromotion request relating to a provider or a promotion category, andone or more promotion qualities that are requested by the consumer in afuture promotion, parse machine readable text relating to a plurality ofpromotions to extract one or more redemption parameters, analyze theredemption parameters relating to the plurality of promotions offered bya promotion and marketing service to identify promotions that satisfythe consumer preferences, wherein each of the provider, the promotioncategory, and the promotion qualities of the plurality of promotions arecompared to the consumer preferences, and provide an impression to theconsumer indicating the availability of the identified promotions thatsatisfy the consumer preferences.

The above summary is provided merely for purposes of summarizing someexample embodiments to provide a basic understanding of some aspects ofthe invention. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that theabove-described embodiments are merely examples and should not beconstrued to narrow the scope or spirit of the invention in any way. Itwill be appreciated that the scope of the invention encompasses manypotential embodiments in addition to those here summarized, some ofwhich will be further described below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Having thus described certain example embodiments of the presentdisclosure in general terms, reference will now be made to theaccompanying drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, andwherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system within which example embodiments ofthe present invention may operate;

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram showing an example device for use inan impression promotion and marketing system configured to provideimpressions, in accordance with some example embodiments of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart describing example operations forproviding an impression to a consumer for a promotion based on consumerpreferences, in accordance with some example embodiments;

FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart describing example operations for anembodiment of the operations illustrated in FIG. 3, wherein consumerpreferences for future promotions are input by a consumer, or whereinconsumer preferences for future promotions are predicted, in accordancewith some example embodiments;

FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart describing example operations for anotherembodiment of the operations illustrated in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, whereinconsumer preferences may include the quality of combinability, andwherein a plurality of promotions are analyzed to identify two or morepromotions that are combinable, in accordance with some exampleembodiments; and

FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart describing an example process of theembodiments illustrated in FIGS. 3-5, in accordance with some exampleembodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Some embodiments of the present invention will now be described morefully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in whichsome, but not all embodiments of the inventions are shown. Indeed, theseinventions may be embodied in many different forms and should not beconstrued as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, theseembodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicablelegal requirements. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.

Definitions

As used herein, the terms “data,” “content,” “information,” and similarterms may be used interchangeably to refer to data capable of beingtransmitted, received, and/or stored in accordance with embodiments ofthe present invention. Thus, use of any such terms should not be takento limit the spirit and scope of embodiments of the present invention.Further, where a computing device is described herein to receive datafrom another computing device, it will be appreciated that the data maybe received directly from the another computing device or may bereceived indirectly via one or more intermediary computing devices, suchas, for example, one or more servers, relays, routers, network accesspoints, base stations, hosts, and/or the like, sometimes referred toherein as a “network.” Similarly, where a computing device is describedherein to send data to another computing device, it will be appreciatedthat the data may be sent directly to the another computing device ormay be sent indirectly via one or more intermediary computing devices,such as, for example, one or more servers, relays, routers, networkaccess points, base stations, hosts, and/or the like.

As used herein, the term “provider” may include, but is not limited to,a merchant, business owner, consigner, shopkeeper, tradesperson, vender,operator, entrepreneur, agent, dealer, organization, or the like that isin the business of a providing a good, service, or experience to aconsumer, facilitating the provision of a good, service, or experienceto a consumer and/or otherwise operating in the stream of commerce. Forexample, a provider may be in the form of a running company that sellsattire that is generally used by a person who runs or participates inathletic activities.

As used herein, the term “consumer” may include, but is not limited to,a client, customer, purchaser, shopper, user, or the like, who may be inthe position to or does exchange value for one or more vouchers underthe terms defined by one or more promotions. For example, and using theaforementioned running company as the example provider, a consumer maybe an individual who is interested in purchasing running shoes.

As used herein, the term “promotion” may include, but is not limited to,any type of offered, presented, or otherwise indicated reward, discount,coupon, credit, deal, incentive, discount, media, or the like, that isindicative of a promotional value or the like that upon purchase oracceptance results in the issuance of an instrument that may be usedtoward at least a portion of the purchase of particular goods, servicesand/or experiences defined by the promotion. An example promotion, usingthe aforementioned running company as the example provider, is $25 for$50 toward running shoes. In some examples, the promotion defines anaccepted value (e.g., a cost to purchase the promotion), a promotionalvalue (e.g., the value of the resultant instrument beyond the acceptedvalue), a residual value (e.g., the value upon return or upon expiry ofone or more redemption parameters), one or more redemptions parametersand/or the like. Using the running company promotion as an example, theaccepted value is $25 and the promotional value is $50. In this example,the residual value may be equal to the accepted value.

As used herein, the term “promotion request” may include a request madeby a consumer to a promotion and marketing service to receive animpression for a future promotion that satisfies particular consumerpreferences. In one embodiment, a promotion request may relate to futurepromotions offered by a particular provider and/or future promotionsoffered in a specific promotion category, in combination with one ormore promotion qualities.

As used herein, the term “promotion category” may include specificclassifications into which promotions offered by a promotion andmarketing service may be divided based on the properties of the goods,services, or experiences. By way of example, such categories mayinclude, without limitation, a type of event, a type of good, a type ofservice, a type of experience, a specific location or venue, specifichobbies or interests, and/or particular holidays or seasonal events.

As used herein, the term “promotion qualities” may include one or morethresholds, one or more redemption parameters, one or more providerpolicies, or any combination thereof, that are associated with apromotion offered by a promotion and marketing service.

As used herein, the term “promotion and marketing service” may include aservice that is accessible via one or more computing devices and isoperable to provide example promotion and/or marketing services onbehalf of one or more providers that are offering one or moreinstruments that are redeemable for goods, services, experiences, and/orthe like. The promotion and marketing service is further configured toillustrate or otherwise inform one or more consumers of the availabilityof one or more instruments in the form of one or more impressions. Insome examples, the promotion and marketing service may also take theform of a redemption authority, a payment processor, a rewards provider,an entity in a financial network, a promoter, an agent and/or the like.As such, the service is, in some example embodiments, configured topresent one or more promotions via one or more impressions, acceptpayments for promotions from consumers, issue instruments uponacceptance of an offer, participate in redemption, generate rewards,provide a point of sale device or service, issue payments to providersand/or or otherwise participate in the exchange of goods, services orexperiences for currency, value, and/or the like.

As used herein, the term “provider parameters” may include parameters,bounds, considerations, and/or the like, that outline or otherwisedefine the term, timing, constraints, limitations, rules, or the like,that are indicative of how the promotion or marketing service maystructure one or more promotions. Example provider parameters include,using the aforementioned running company as the example provider, limitone instrument per person, total of 100 instruments to be issued and anexpiration of all instruments by May 29, 2013.

As used herein, the term “impression” may include an alert communicationprovided to a consumer, a display, or other perceived indication, suchas a flyer, print media, e-mail, text message, application alert, mobileapplications, other type of electronic interface or distributionchannel, and/or the like, of one or more promotions. For example, andusing the aforementioned running company as the example provider, ane-mail communication sent to consumers that indicates the availabilityof a $25 for $50 toward running shoes promotion. In one embodiment, animpression may be an alert communication provided to a consumerindicating the availability of one or more promotions that have beenidentified as satisfying consumer preferences for future promotions.

As used herein, the term “instrument” may include, but is not limitedto, any type of gift card, tender, electronic certificate, medium ofexchange, voucher, or the like, that embodies the terms of the promotionfrom which the instrument resulted and may be used toward at least aportion of the purchase, acquisition, procurement, consumption or thelike of goods, services and/or experiences. In some examples, theinstrument may take the form of tender that has a given value that isexchangeable for goods, services and/or experiences and/or a reductionin a purchase price of a particular good, service or experience. In someexamples, the instrument may have multiple values, such as acceptedvalue, a promotional value and/or a residual value. For example, usingthe aforementioned running company as the example provider, anelectronic indication in a mobile application that shows $50 of value tospend at the running company. In some examples, the accepted value ofthe instrument is defined by the value exchanged for the instrument. Insome examples, the promotional value is defined by the promotion fromwhich the instrument resulted and is the value of the instrument beyondthe accepted value. In some examples, the residual value is the valueafter redemption, the value after the expiry or other violation of aredemption parameter, the return or exchange value of the instrumentand/or the like.

As used herein, the term “redemption parameters” may include parameters,bounds, considerations, and/or the like, that outline the term, timing,constraints, limitations, rules or the like for how and/or when aninstrument may be redeemed. For example, an indication that theinstrument must be redeemed prior to a specified deadline, for aspecific good, service or experience and/or the like. For example, usingthe aforementioned running company as the example provider, a limit ofone instrument per visit, in store only or an expiration of May 29,2013. In one embodiment, redemption parameters may include thecombinability of two or more promotions offered by the same provider.

As used herein, the term “redemption” may include the use, exchange orother presentation of an instrument for at least a portion of a good,service, or experience as defined by the instrument and its relatedoffer. In some examples, redemption includes the verification ofvalidity of the instrument. In other example embodiments, redemption mayinclude an indication that a particular instrument has been redeemed andthus no longer retains an actual, promotional and/or residual value(e.g., full redemption). In other example embodiments, redemption mayinclude the redemption of at least a portion of its actual, promotionaland/or residual value (e.g., partial redemption). An example ofredemption, using the aforementioned running company as the exampleprovider, is the exchange of the $50 instrument and $50 for the purchaseof $100 running shoes.

Overview

Methods, apparatus, and computer program products are provided inaccordance with an example embodiment of the present invention in orderto provide methods for providing an impression to a consumer indicatingthe availability of at least one promotion that satisfies consumerpreferences for future promotions.

In some examples, a promotion and marketing service is configured toprovide consumers with various promotions for products, services, orexperiences offered by providers. Following the input of a consumer'ssearch parameters, the promotion and marketing service comprises methodsfor providing an impression to the consumer for promotions that satisfytheir search. In certain example instances, however, a suitablepromotion may not be offered at the time the consumer conducts a search,and the consumer may wish to be informed of future promotions thatsatisfy their specific preferences. Examples provided herein enable thepromotion and marketing service to provide an impression to a consumer,indicating the availability of at least one promotion that satisfiesconsumer preferences for future promotions.

In certain example instances, consumer preferences may specify at leastone promotion request for a future promotion. The promotion request mayrequest a specific provider or a specific promotion category, incombination with one or more promotion qualities. Such promotionqualities may include any number of promotion characteristics including,without limitation, one or more thresholds, one or more redemptionparameters, or a combination thereof. 100451 To identify thosepromotions that satisfy the consumer preferences for future promotions,embodiments of the invention account for analyzing a plurality ofpromotions offered by the promotion and marketing service. The processof analyzing may compare the provider, the promotion category, and thepromotion qualities of a plurality of promotions to those set forth inthe consumer preferences, thereby identifying those that satisfy theconsumer preferences. In embodiments of the invention, analyzing aplurality of promotions may comprise processing the text of promotions,or the text of database tags associated with promotions, to identifykeywords, phrases, clauses, and/or specified text that are indicative ofa particular redemption parameter or quality set forth in the consumerpreferences. In other embodiments, analyzing a plurality of promotionsmay comprise parsing the text of promotions, or parsing the text ofdatabase tags associated with promotions, to identify keywords, phrases,clauses, and/or specified text that may suggest that a promotion has aparticular redemption parameter or quality set forth in the consumerpreferences.

In one example embodiment of the invention, consumer preferences mayinclude the quality of combinability, wherein a promotion can becombined at the time of redemption with at least one additionalpromotion offered by the same provider. To identify such promotions, andto provide an impression to a consumer, a plurality of promotions may beanalyzed to identify a first promotion that can be combined with atleast one additional promotion offered by the same provider.Subsequently, the plurality of promotions may be further analyzed toidentify additional promotions, offered by the same provider, that arecombinable with the first promotion.

Accordingly, the methods, apparatus, and computer program productdescribed herein allow the promotion and marketing service to provide aconsumer with impressions indicating the availability of at least onepromotion that satisfies consumer preferences for future promotions,thus increasing consumer purchasing, increasing profitability forproviders and the promotion and marketing service, and improving theprovider and consumer experience.

System Architecture

The method, apparatus, and computer program product of the presentinvention may be embodied by any of a variety of devices. For example,the method, apparatus, and computer program product of an exampleembodiment may be embodied by a fixed computing device, such as apersonal computer or a computer workstation. Further, an exampleembodiment may be embodied by any of a variety of mobile terminals, suchas a portable digital assistant (PDA), mobile telephone, smartphone,laptop computer, tablet computer, wearable device, or any combination ofthe aforementioned devices.

In this regard, FIG. 1 discloses an example computing system withinwhich embodiments of the present invention may operate. In this regard,FIG. 1 illustrates an overview for an alert system 100 configured toprovide an impression indicating the availability of at least onepromotion that satisfies consumer preferences for future promotions. Thealert system 100 includes an impression system 102 that includes ananalytical model 104 that is in communication with databases 106, 108,and 110, feature selection module 112, and impression model 114. Theimpression system 102 is in communication with one or more networks 116that are in communication with a consumer 118.

In example embodiments, the analytical model 104 may include one or morecomponents for accessing consumer preferences for future promotions,analyzing a plurality of promotions offered by a promotion and marketingservice to identify those that satisfy consumer preferences, andproviding an impression to a consumer indicating the availability ofidentified promotions that satisfy consumer preferences. In otherexample embodiments, the analytical model 104 may include one or morecomponents for analyzing a plurality of promotions to identify a firstpromotion that is combinable with at least one additional promotionoffered by the same provider, and subsequently analyzing the pluralityof promotions to identify the at least one additional promotion that iscombinable with the first promotion.

To perform the various analyses, the analytical model 104 communicateswith one or more databases that are part of (or work in conjunctionwith) the impression system 102 such as a consumer preference database106, a promotion database 108, a secondary promotion database 110,and/or a feature selection module 112. With respect to the particularconsumer, the analytical model 104 may access the consumer preferencedatabase 106 in order to obtain the consumer preferences for futurepromotions. In one embodiment, such consumer preferences comprise atleast one promotion request relating to a provider or a promotioncategory, and one or more promotion qualities that are requested by theconsumer in a future promotion.

The promotion database 108 is configured to comprise a plurality ofpromotions offered by a promotion and marketing service, as well as datarelating to each promotion that can be analyzed according to theembodiments. In one embodiment, the promotion database 108 may becreated and maintained by the promotion and marketing service.

The secondary promotion database 110 is configured to comprise aplurality of promotions offered by providers, as well as data relatingto each promotion, that can be analyzed according to the embodiments. Inone embodiment, the secondary promotion database 110 may be accessibleto the promotion and marketing service, but is not created or maintainedby the promotion and marketing service. In another embodiment, thesecondary promotion database 110 may comprise different promotions thanthose found in promotion database 108. In yet another embodiment, thesecondary promotion database 110 may comprise one or more promotionsthat are combinable with one or more promotions in promotion database108. In some examples, the secondary promotion database 110 maycomprise, or otherwise have access to, one or more additional promotionsoffered by another promotion and marketing service, one or moreadditional promotions offered by one or more providers, one or moreadditional promotions available via one or more promotion providers,and/or the like. In some examples, the promotion database 108 and thesecondary promotion database 110 may be the same database.

The feature selection module 112 is configured to analyze and/orclassify one or more terms or phrases in a plurality of promotions todetermine the promotions redemption parameters and/or qualities of thepromotions by processing machine readable text by ignoring, extracting,modifying, and/or deleting specific terms or phrases, or creating a newdocument without words or phrases that may not be indicative of aredemption parameter or quality. The feature selection module 112 may befurther configured to calculate a score corresponding to thesignificance of particular words or phrases in a redemption parameter orpromotion quality, and to select or extract a subset of relevant wordsor phrases identified as features based on such scores.

The impression model 114 is configured to be in communication with theanalytical model 104 and to generate impressions based on the analysisperformed by the analytical model 104. Alternatively or additionally,the impression model 114 may be configured to generate impressionsirrespective of the analytical model 104. In such cases, the analyticalmodel 104, in some examples, may provide an indication of one or moreimpressions that are combinable, satisfy consumer preferences, or thelike.

The network(s) 116 are configured to communicate the impressionsgenerated by the impression system 102 to the consumer 118. The network116 may include one or more wired networks, wireless networks, orcombinations thereof. The wireless network may be a cellular telephonenetwork, an 802.11, 802.16, 802.20, or WiMax network. Further, thenetwork may be a public network, such as the Internet, a privatenetwork, such as an intranet, or combinations thereof, and may utilize avariety of networking protocols now available or later developedincluding, but not limited to TCP/IP based networking protocols.

Although FIG. 1 has been illustrated to show separate databases 106,108, and 110, FIG. 1 has been illustrated for demonstrative purposesonly, and it is contemplated to have the databases 106, 108, and 110arranged in any combination of one or more memories/storage units.

The prediction system 102 may be embodied by a computing system, such asapparatus 200 shown in FIG. 2. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the apparatus200 may include a processor 202, a memory 204, an input/output module206, a communications module 208, and a prediction module 210, and maybe configured to execute the operations described below. In someembodiments, the processor 202 (and/or co-processor or any otherprocessing circuitry assisting or otherwise associated with theprocessor) may be in communication with the memory 204 via a bus forpassing information among components of the apparatus. The memory 204may be non-transitory and may include, for example, one or more volatileand/or non-volatile memories. In other words, for example, the memorymay be an electronic storage device (e.g., a computer readable storagemedium). The memory may be configured to store information, data,content, applications, instructions, or the like, for enabling theapparatus to carry out various functions in accordance with an exampleembodiment of the present invention.

The processor 202 may be embodied in a number of different ways and may,for example include one or more processing devices configured to performindependently. Additionally or alternatively, the processor may includeone or more processors configured in tandem via a bus to enableindependent execution of instructions, pipelining, and/ormultithreading.

In an example embodiment, the processor 202 may be configured to executeinstructions stored in the memory 204 or otherwise accessible to theprocessor. Alternatively or additionally, the processor may beconfigured to execute hard-coded functionality. As such, whetherconfigured by hardware or software methods, or by a combination thereof,the processor may represent an entity (e.g., physically embodied incircuitry) capable of performing operations according to an embodimentof the present invention while configured accordingly. Alternatively, asanother example, when the processor is embodied as an executor ofsoftware instructions, the instructions may specifically configure theprocessor to perform the algorithms and/or operations described hereinwhen the instructions are executed.

In some embodiments, the apparatus 200 may include an input/outputmodule 206 that may, in turn, be in communication with processor 202 toprovide output to the user and, in some embodiments, to receive anindication of a user input. The input/output module may comprise a userinterface and may include a display. In such embodiments, the userinterface may comprise a web user interface, a mobile application, aclient device, a kiosk, or the like. In some embodiments, theinput/output module 206 may also include a keyboard, a mouse, ajoystick, a touch screen, touch areas, soft keys, a microphone, aspeaker, or other input/output mechanisms. The processor, or userinterface circuitry including the processor, may be configured tocontrol one or more functions of one or more user interface elementsthrough computer program instructions (e.g., software and/or firmware)stored on a memory accessible to the processor (e.g., memory 204,onboard memory of the processor, and/or the like).

Meanwhile, the communications module 208 may be any means such as adevice or circuitry embodied in either hardware or a combination ofhardware and software that is configured to receive and/or transmit datafrom/to a network and/or any other device or module in communicationwith the apparatus 200. In this regard, the communication interface mayinclude, for example, an antenna (or multiple antennas) and supportinghardware and/or software for enabling communications with a wirelesscommunication network. Additionally or alternatively, the communicationinterface may include the circuitry for interacting with the antenna(s)to cause transmission of signals via the antenna(s) or to handle receiptof signals received via the antenna(s). In some environments, thecommunication interface may additionally or alternatively support wiredcommunication. As such, for example, the communication interface mayinclude a communication modem and/or other hardware/software forsupporting communication via cable, digital subscriber line (DSL),universal serial bus (USB), or other mechanisms.

The impression module 210 may be used to perform operations resulting inproviding an impression to a consumer indicating the availability of atleast one promotion that satisfies consumer preferences for futurepromotions. In this regard, as noted above, the module may be used for anumber of operations including, without limitation, accessing consumerpreferences for future promotions, analyzing a plurality of promotionsoffered by a promotion and marketing service to identify promotions thatsatisfy the consumer preferences, and providing an impression to aconsumer indicating the availability of identified promotions thatsatisfy consumer preferences. In other example embodiments, the modulemay be used for analyzing a plurality of promotions to identify a firstpromotion that is combinable with at least one additional promotionoffered by the same provider, and subsequently analyzing the pluralityof promotions to identify the at least one additional promotion that iscombinable with the first promotion.

Example Prediction Operations

As described herein, example embodiments of the present invention aredisclosed for providing an impression for a new promotion based consumerpreferences.

FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart containing example operations forproviding an impression indicating the availability at least onepromotion that satisfies consumer preferences for future promotions. Theoperations illustrated in FIG. 3 may, for example, be performed by theimpression system 102, such as, in one example embodiment, apparatus200, and may use processor 202, memory 204, I/O module 206,communications module 208, and impression module 210.

In operation 301, the apparatus 200 includes means, such as processor202, memory 204, I/O module 206, communications module 208, impressionmodule 210, or the like, for accessing from consumer preference database106 consumer preferences for future promotions. In one embodiment,consumer preferences may include at least one promotion request made bya consumer for promotions offered by a particular provider, or forpromotions in a particular promotion category, wherein the promotionrequest further specifies particular promotion qualities. In someembodiments, consumer preferences may be accessed from a consumerpreference database and/or a secondary consumer preference database. Insome examples, the consumer preferences may include a particular pricethreshold, a particular redemption parameter, a particular good,service, or experience, a particular time, a particular location, and/orthe like.

In some examples, consumer preferences may include one or more qualitiesof a promotion, which may be in the form of specific redemptionparameters and/or thresholds. Thresholds may include a specified valueassociated with a promotion at which a consumer requests that animpression be provided. In one example, a threshold may be a pricethreshold, wherein a price for a promotion is at, or below, a specifiedamount. In another example, a threshold may be a discount threshold,wherein a promotion is offered for a discount at, or above, a specifiedpercentage. In another example, a threshold may be a quantity threshold,wherein a promotion is offered for at least a specified number ofproducts, services, or experiences. In yet another example, a thresholdmay be a provider rating threshold, wherein a provider has at least aspecified rating as determined by the promotion and marketing service,by other services that report provider ratings, by other consumers, orby any combination thereof. In yet another example, a threshold may be apromotion duration threshold, wherein a promotion has at least aspecified length of time for redemption.

In further examples, consumer preferences may be configured to identifyan overlap of a consumer's particular interests. For example, consumerpreferences may identify a local area (e.g., Ballard), a particularservice (e.g., Thai Cuisine), and a particular time or range of times(e.g., Friday and Saturday nights). In other cases, the preferences maybe directed to a good, where the consumer preference identifies adiscount (e.g., at least five percent off) and a shipping offer (e.g.,at least free shipping). In further cases, consumer preferences may beused to drive relevance and, therefore, be more indicative of certaintypes or qualities of promotions that should be provided.

In operation 302, the apparatus 200 includes means, such as processor202, memory 204, I/O module 206, communications module 208, impressionmodule 210, or the like, for analyzing a plurality of promotions inpromotion database 108 to identify those that satisfy consumerpreferences. In one embodiment, each of the provider, the promotioncategory, and the promotion qualities of the plurality of promotions areanalyzed and compared to those specified in consumer preferencesaccessed in operation 301. As such, a subset of the promotions offeredby the promotion and marketing service may be identified that satisfyconsumer preferences.

In some examples, a promotion may satisfy consumer preferences bymeeting all of the redemption parameters or qualities set forth in theconsumer preferences. In other examples, a promotion may satisfyconsumer preferences by meeting a percentage of redemption parameters orqualities. In such an example, the percentage may range from 50% up to100%, or may be about 50%, 55%, 60%, 65%, 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%,or 100% of the redemption parameters or qualities in consumerpreferences.

In some examples, analyzing may include an operation wherein a pluralityof promotions are processed or otherwise parsed to determine theirredemption parameters or qualities. In one example, analyzing maycomprise processing the text of promotions (e.g. based on machinereadable text captured from an electronic source, an image of a paperpromotion, a scan of a print advertisement or the like) , or the text ofdatabase tags associated with promotions, to identify keywords, phrases,clauses, and/or specified text that are indicative of a particularredemption parameter or quality (e.g., provider, promotion category,and/or quality). In some examples, promotions may already be stored inan electronic format, such as a database, and thus database tags mayinclude one or more descriptive terms that are associated with apromotion in a database. Analyzing may alternatively comprise parsingthe text of promotions, or parsing the text of database tags associatedwith promotions, to identify keywords, phrases, clauses, and/orspecified text that may suggest that a promotion has a particularredemption parameter or quality. In particular examples, a promotionquality may include the combinability of two or more promotions offeredby the same provider.

In some examples, a learning algorithm may be used to analyze andclassify one or more terms or phrases in a promotion. In some exampleembodiments, the system may be configured for accessing and/or receivinga corpus (e.g., a structured set of texts) representing a plurality ofpreviously offered promotions. The corpus may comprise one or morepromotions with an associated label classifying its redemptionparameters or qualities (e.g., not combinable). Once the corpus isaccessed, the system may be configured for ignoring, extracting,modifying, deleting, or otherwise creating a new document without wordsthat may not be indicative of a redemption parameter or quality such asone or more of common words (e.g., a, an, and, for), rare words (e.g.,words appearing only once), stop words, or the like. For example, if adocument mapped to a particular redemption parameter or quality includedthe phrase “this promotion expires in 7 days,” the feature selectionmodule 112 may remove “this” and “in.” In some examples, common words,rare words, stop words, or the like, are simply ignored.

The system may be further configured for calculating a scorecorresponding to a significance of a particular word within theredemption parameters. A feature scoring method, may include, but is notlimited to, binormal separation (BNS). For example, F⁻¹(tpr)−F⁻¹(fpr),where F−1 is the standard Normal distribution's inverse cumulativeprobability function, tpr is true positive rate and fpr is the falsepositive rate. Other metrics may also be used for the feature selection,which include, but are not limited to F-measure, Information Gain, ChiSquared, Odds ratio, Document Frequency, and/or the like.

The system may be configured for selecting or otherwise extracting asubset of words as features based on the scoring. In an exampleembodiment, the system may select any word meeting or otherwisesatisfying a predetermined threshold. In another embodiment, apredetermined number of words are selected (e.g., the 1,000 words withthe highest scores where the highest scored words are those words thatare most likely able to identify a particular redemption parameter). Forexample, and based on the example above, “expires” and “days” may bescored and, providing they satisfy the predetermined threshold, may beextracted as features by feature selection module 112.

In some examples, the extracted features may then be used by analyticalmodel 104 to analyze one or more accessed promotions. For example,redemption parameters, preferences, or the like, may be analyzed (e.g.,the words in the instrument may be parsed) to determine one or moreredemption parameters or qualities. For example, the text (e.g., machinereadable text) of a promotion may be extracted such as from a promotionoffered via a website, an email, or the like, or from a promotion thathas been stored electronically (e.g., a physical coupon that has beenscanned) or the like.

In some examples, one or more stop words may be removed (e.g., a, is,the, etc.) from the set of words or text extracted from the promotion.Once stop words are removed, the one or more remaining words and thedistance between the words may be compared to the feature set from thetrain set to determine one or more parameters or qualities relating tothe promotion. For example, a date may be identified if it is within nwords of the word “expires.”. In other examples, days of the week may beextracted and identified as limitations on the date of redemption,“combine” and synonyms thereof may be selected along with words within nwords to determine whether combinability is permitted, and/or the like.

As such, using the foregoing language processing methodology, one ormore promotions offered by a promotion and marketing service may becompared to one or more promotions offered by an entity external to thepromotion and marketing service. The combinability of two or morepromotions offered by the same provider may be determined according thisprocess. Thus, a consumer may advantageously be allowed to benefit frommultiple promotions when purchasing a good, service, or experience.

In some examples, combinability may include the ability to pair two ormore promotions offered by the promotion and marketing service. In suchexamples, a consumer may be able to combine two or more of the samepromotion, or two or more different promotions, offered by a provider.For instance, a consumer may be able to combine two promotions of $10for $20 towards running shoes, or may combine a promotion of $10 for $20towards running shoes with a promotion for a 25% discount off of runningshoes. In another such example, two or more consumers may be able tocombine the same promotion, or different promotions, offered by theprovider. For instance, two consumers may combine promotions for a 50%discount off of entry to a sporting event when making a single purchase.In another instance, two consumers may combine a promotion for a 50%discount off of entry to a sporting event with a $10 discount for entryto the same event when making a single purchase.

In other examples, combinability may include the ability to pair apromotion offered by the promotion and marketing service with promotionsoffered by the same provider through other sources or from a third partypromotion issuer. Such sources may include coupon or discount databasesthat are accessible from the internet (e.g., another marketing andpromotion service, an online promotion database, coupons made availablevia social networking websites), email communications sent by theprovider (e.g., company newsletters), periodicals such as advertisingcirculars or subscription magazines, in-store promotions offered by theprovider (e.g., coupons provided on the shelf or with purchase),promotions that are included with a purchased good (e.g., a packageinsert providing a promotion), other sales or discounts unrelated topromotions and/or the like.

In some examples, promotions may be combined with sales offered by atraveling service to enable travel to be booked (e.g. a restaurantpromotion is redeemable during the time a consumer has a hotel bookednearby). In other examples, promotions may be combined with salesoffered to attend an event, such as a sporting event (e.g., theavailability of sports apparel at a provider near the event) or concert,or for entertainment, such as a movie. In other examples, promotions maybe combined with sales offered for memberships, such as discounted gymmemberships (e.g., multiple sources offering free months of membership),or subscriptions, such as discounted magazine or online subscriptions.In yet other examples, promotions may be combined with sales offered forgoods, such as department or store-wide discounts offered by a providerfor clothing, sports equipment, or any other goods (e.g., determiningwhether a promotion is redeemable during the half-yearly sale or someother current sale, comparing promotion parameters with non-promotionparameters provided by a merchant, such as a website policy noting thatonly one instrument per visit, or the like). In further examples,promotions may be combined with sales offered for food or dining, suchas restaurant discounts. In further examples, promotions may be combinedwith sales offered for services, such as discounted lawn service,automotive care, and the like. In further examples, promotions may becombined with sales offered for activities, such as discounted lessons,classes, sports, and the like. Other advantageous examples areadditionally available to one or more consumers.

In operation 303, the apparatus 200 includes means, such as processor202, memory 204, I/O module 206, communications module 208, impressionmodule 210, or the like, for providing an impression to the consumer. Inone embodiment, the impression indicates the availability of identifiedpromotions that satisfy consumer preferences. In some examples, animpression may be provided to the consumer via one or more networks inthe form of an alert, such a mobile device notification, an electronicmessage, a tweet, a text message, or the like. In other examples,impressions may include any number of identified promotions available ata given time. In further examples, impressions may be provided to theconsumer at a specific time indicated by the consumer (e.g., nextFriday), at regular intervals indicated by the consumer (e.g., everyFriday), at any time promotions are identified that satisfy consumerpreferences, and/or at intervals determined by the promotion andmarketing service.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flowchart containing example operations for oneembodiment of the operations illustrated in FIG. 3. The operationsillustrated in FIG. 4 may, for example, be performed by the impressionsystem 102, such as, in one example embodiment, apparatus 200, and mayuse processor 202, memory 204, I/O module 206, communications module208, and prediction module 210.

Optionally, operation 401 may be included, wherein the apparatus 200includes means, such as processor 202, memory 204, I/O module 206,communications module 208, impression module 210, or the like, for aconsumer to input consumer preferences for future promotions. Suchconsumer preferences may be stored, for example, in consumer preferencedatabase 106. In some examples, a consumer may input consumerpreferences into consumer preference database 106 via a user interfacein the form of a fixed computing device or a mobile terminal, such as aportable digital assistant (PDA), mobile telephone, smartphone, laptopcomputer, tablet computer, wearable device, or any combination thereof.In other examples, consumer preferences may be imported by the consumerfrom a separate database or computing device into consumer preferencedatabase 106.

Alternatively, operation 402 may optionally be included, wherein theapparatus 200 includes means, such as processor 202, memory 204, I/Omodule 206, communications module 208, impression module 210, or thelike, for predicting consumer preferences. In one embodiment, consumerpreferences may be predicted based on a consumer's search history,purchase history, profile, location, favorites, or any combinationthereof. Such consumer preferences may be stored, for example, inconsumer preference database 106.

Machine learning is often used to develop a particular patternrecognition algorithm (i.e. an algorithm that represents a particularpattern recognition problem, such as determining particular consumerpreferences) that is based on statistical inference. In someembodiments, the promotion and marketing service may receive signalsfrom a consumer, such as information on browsing history, indication orcertain types of liked promotions, indication of purchased transactions,certain consumer inputs, and/or the like.

For example, a set of clusters may be developed using unsupervisedlearning, in which the number and respective sizes of the clusters isbased on calculations of similarity of features of the patterns within apreviously collected training set of patterns. In another example, aclassifier representing a particular categorization problem may bedeveloped using supervised learning based on using a training set ofpatterns and their respective known categorizations. Each trainingpattern is input to the classifier, and the difference between theoutput categorization generated by the classifier and the knowncategorization is used to adjust the classifier coefficients to moreaccurately represent the problem. A classifier that is developed usingsupervised learning also is known as a trainable classifier.

In some embodiments, content analysis includes a source-specificclassifier that takes a source-specific representation of the contentreceived from a particular source as an input and produces an outputthat categorizes that input as being likely to include a relevant datareference or as being unlikely to include a relevant data reference. Insome embodiments, the source-specific classifier is a trainableclassifier that can be optimized as more instances of content foranalysis are received from a particular source.

In operation 403, the apparatus 200 includes means, such as processor202, memory 204, I/O module 206, communications module 208, impressionmodule 210, or the like, for accessing from consumer preference database106 consumer preferences for future promotions. In one embodiment,consumer preferences specify at least one promotion request relating toa provider or a promotion category, and one or more promotion qualitiesthat are requested by the consumer in a future promotion.

In operation 404, the apparatus 200 includes means, such as processor202, memory 204, I/O module 206, communications module 208, impressionmodule 210, or the like, for analyzing a plurality of promotions inpromotion database 108 that satisfy consumer preferences. In oneembodiment, each of the provider, the promotion category, and thepromotion qualities of the plurality of promotions are analyzed andcompared to those specified in consumer preferences accessed inoperation 403.

In operation 405, the apparatus 200 includes means, such as processor202, memory 204, I/O module 206, communications module 208, impressionmodule 210, or the like, for providing an impression to the consumer. Inone embodiment, the impression indicates the availability of identifiedpromotions that satisfy consumer preferences.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart containing example operations for anotherembodiment of the operations illustrated in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4. Theoperations illustrated in FIG. 5 may, for example, be performed by theimpression system 102, such as, in one example embodiment, apparatus200, and may use processor 202, memory 204, I/O module 206,communications module 208, and prediction module 210.

Optionally, operation 501 may be included, wherein the apparatus 200includes means, such as processor 202, memory 204, I/O module 206,communications module 208, impression module 210, or the like, for aconsumer to input consumer preferences for future promotions. Suchconsumer preferences may be stored, for example, in consumer preferencedatabase 106.

Alternatively, operation 502 may optionally be included, wherein theapparatus 200 includes means, such as processor 202, memory 204, I/Omodule 206, communications module 208, impression module 210, or thelike, for predicting consumer preferences. In one embodiment, consumerpreferences may be predicted based on a consumer's search history,purchase history, profile, location, favorites, or any combinationthereof. Such consumer preferences may be stored, for example, inconsumer preference database 106.

In operation 503, the apparatus 200 includes means, such as processor202, memory 204, I/O module 206, communications module 208, impressionmodule 210, or the like, for accessing from consumer preference database106 consumer preferences for future promotions. In one embodiment, theconsumer preferences specify at least one promotion request relating toa provider or a promotion category, and one or more promotion qualitiesthat are requested by the consumer in a future promotion.

In operation 504, the apparatus 200 includes means, such as processor202, memory 204, I/O module 206, communications module 208, impressionmodule 210, or the like, for determining if consumer preferences includethe quality of combinability. In some examples, combinability mayinclude the ability to redeem a promotion (e.g., a first promotion) incombination with one or more additional promotions offered by the sameprovider, such that all promotions are simultaneously accepted by theprovider at the time of redemption. In one example, a first promotionand one or more additional promotions may be combinable for the samegood, service, or experience offered by a provider. For example, a firstpromotion offering $25 for $50 towards running shoes may be combinablewith a second promotion offering $10 for $20 towards shoes. In anotherembodiment, a first promotion and one or more additional promotions maybe combinable for a different product, service, or experience offered bya provider. For example, a first promotion offering $25 for $50 towardsrunning shoes may be combinable with a second promotion offering $5 for$10 towards socks when running shoes are purchased. If consumerpreferences do not include combinability, operation 505 is performed. Ifconsumer preferences do include combinability, operations 506 and 507are performed.

In operation 505, the apparatus 200 includes means, such as processor202, memory 204, I/O module 206, communications module 208, impressionmodule 210, or the like, for analyzing a plurality of promotions inpromotion database 108 that satisfy the consumer preferences. In oneembodiment, each of the provider, the promotion category, and thepromotion qualities of the plurality of promotions are analyzed andcompared to those specified in consumer preferences in operation 503.

In operation 506, the apparatus 200 includes means, such as processor202, memory 204, I/O module 206, communications module 208, impressionmodule 210, or the like, for analyzing a plurality of promotions inpromotion database 108 to identify a first promotion that is combinablewith at least one additional promotion offered by the same provider. Inone embodiment, combinability is determined by analyzing providerparameters, redemption parameters, database tags, promotion text, or anycombination thereof, to determine if the first promotion can, or cannot,be combined with other promotions offered by the same provider.

In operation 507, the apparatus 200 includes means, such as processor202, memory 204, I/O module 206, communications module 208, impressionmodule 210, or the like, for analyzing a plurality of promotions inpromotion database 108 to identify at least one additional promotionthat is combinable with the first promotion identified in operation 506.In one embodiment, the at least one additional promotion is identifiedin promotion database 108. In another embodiment, the at least oneadditional promotion is identified by analyzing secondary promotiondatabase 110. In another embodiment, combinability is determined byanalyzing provider parameters, redemption parameters, database tags,promotion text, or any combination thereof, to determine if the at leastone additional promotion can be combined with other promotions offeredby the same provider, such as the first promotion identified inoperation 506. In another embodiment, the first promotion and the atleast one additional promotion are combinable for the same product,service, or experience offered by the same provider. In yet anotherembodiment, the first promotion and the at least one additionalpromotion are combinable for a different product, service, or experienceoffered by the same provider.

FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart describing an example process performedaccording to the operations illustrated in FIGS. 3-5. In operation 601,a consumer selects a good, service, or experience that may be offered ina promotion (e.g., running shoes) by a promotion and marketing service.

In operation 602, the consumer selects one or more redemption parametersor qualities for a future promotion for the good, service, or experience(e.g., running shoes under $50 or free shipping). Examples of redemptionparameters and qualities are provided elsewhere herein.

Alternatively or additionally, in some examples, the consumer mayrequest an alert when there are running shoes available that areparticular price. In some examples, that price may include a finalprice, such a price that includes any taxes and shipping. In response,the system described herein may be configured to locate such a promotionby attempting to combine one or more available promotions, sales orother discounts to acquire the running shoes according to the requestedredemption parameters or qualities. Alternatively or additionally, thesystem may monitor the promotions offered by a promotion and marketingservice and then attempt to combine one or more promotions to enable theconsumer to acquire the running shoes according to the requestedredemption parameters or qualities. In either case, once available, thepromotion and marketing service may alert the consumer.

In operation 603, the consumer receives an impression from the promotionand marketing service when one or more promotions are identified thatallow the consumer to purchase the good, service, or experienceaccording to the selected redemption parameters or qualities (e.g., atthe preferred price or free shipping).

Accordingly, as disclosed in conjunction with FIGS. 3-6, embodiments ofthe present invention illustrate operations that provide an impressionindicating the availability of at least one promotion that satisfiesconsumer preferences for future promotions. Moreover, embodiments of thepresent invention include reinforcement learning operations that ensureaccuracy of such impressions over time.

As will be appreciated, computer program code and/or other instructionsmay be loaded onto a computer, processor or other programmableapparatus's circuitry to produce a machine, such that execution of thecode on the machine by the computer, processor, or other circuitrycreates the means for implementing various functions, including thosedescribed herein.

As described above and as will be appreciated based on this disclosure,embodiments of the present invention may be configured as methods,mobile devices, backend network devices, and the like. Accordingly,embodiments may comprise various means including entirely of hardware ora combination of software and hardware. Furthermore, embodiments maytake the form of a computer program product on at least onecomputer-readable storage medium having computer-readable programinstructions (e.g., computer software) embodied in the storage medium.Any suitable computer-readable storage medium may be utilized, includingnon-transitory hard disks, CD-ROMs, flash memory, optical storagedevices, magnetic storage devices, or the like.

Embodiments of the present invention have been described above withreference to block diagrams and flowchart illustrations of methods,apparatuses, systems and computer program products. It will beunderstood that each block of the circuit diagrams and processflowcharts, and combinations of blocks in the circuit diagrams andprocess flowcharts, respectively, may be implemented by various meansincluding computer program instructions. These computer programinstructions may be loaded onto a general purpose computer, specialpurpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus toproduce a machine, such that the computer program product includes theinstructions, which execute on the computer or other programmable dataprocessing apparatus create a means for implementing the functionsspecified in the flowchart block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in acomputer-readable storage device that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablestorage device produce an article of manufacture includingcomputer-readable instructions for implementing the function discussedherein. The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause aseries of operational steps to be performed on the computer or otherprogrammable apparatus, thereby producing a computer-implemented processsuch that the instructions executed on the computer or otherprogrammable apparatus cause performance of the steps and therebyimplement the functions discussed herein.

Accordingly, blocks of the block diagrams and flowchart illustrationssupport combinations of means for performing the specified functions,combinations of steps for performing the specified functions and programinstruction means for performing the specified functions. It will alsobe understood that each block of the circuit diagrams and processflowcharts, and combinations of blocks in the circuit diagrams andprocess flowcharts, may be implemented by special purpose hardware-basedcomputer systems that perform the specified functions or steps, orcombinations of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.

Many modifications and other embodiments of the inventions set forthherein will come to mind to one skilled in the art to which theseembodiments of the invention pertain having the benefit of the teachingspresented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings.Therefore, it is to be understood that the embodiments of the inventionare not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and thatmodifications and other embodiments are intended to be included withinthe scope of the appended claims. Although specific terms are employedherein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and notfor purposes of limitation.

Example 1

As described above, embodiments of the present invention are disclosedfor providing an impression indicating the availability of at least onepromotion that satisfies consumer preferences for future promotions. Byway of example, a consumer may wish to purchase a promotion from apromotion and marketing service for running shoes from a local athleticstore. The consumer may wish to purchase running shoes from a specificstore that is located within a specific area. The consumer may also wishto purchase running shoes for a price of no more than $50, or for adiscount of at least 30%. Upon searching the promotion and marketingservice database, the consumer may find that no promotions currentlyoffered are satisfactory. However, the consumer may wish to receive analert from the promotion and marketing service of any future promotionsthat satisfy these preferences.

To receive alerts from the promotion and marketing service, the consumermay input specific preferences, specifying a promotion request relatingto the type of product they wish to purchase (i.e., running shoes), aspecific provider that they wish to purchase from, a specific area wherethey wish to make the purchase, and qualities of the promotion, such asa price limit, discount percentage, redemption parameter, and/or thelike. In this example, the consumer may wish to receive alerts forpromotions for running shoes sold by a specific athletic store in theircity, where the running shoes cost no more than $50 or are offered at adiscount of at least 30%. The consumer may also specify that they wishto receive alerts for any promotions offered by the athletic store thatare combinable with other promotions offered by the athletic store.

Alternatively, the consumer may indicate that they wish to receivealerts for future promotions, and the promotion and marketing servicemay then predict the consumer's preferences based on the consumer'sprofile, search history, purchase history, location, favorites, and/orthe like.

The promotion and marketing service then analyzes new promotions on aregular basis to identify those that satisfy the consumer preferences.When satisfactory promotions are identified, the promotion and marketingservice sends an alert to the consumer, indicating the availability ofthe identified promotions. The consumer may then purchase one or more ofthe promotions for redemption by the provider.

In the present example, the consumer may receive an alert that theirpreferred athletic store is offering a plurality of promotions forrunning shoes at a nearby location. One such promotion is $50 for a pairof running shoes, meeting one of the consumer's preferences. Anothersuch promotion is a discount of 30% off of running shoes, meetinganother of the consumer's preferences. The alert indicates that the twopromotions are also combinable, as requested by the consumer, and can beredeemed together for a single purchase. Upon purchasing the twocombinable promotions, the consumer redeems them together whenpurchasing the running shoes. As a result, the shoes have a cost of $50that is further reduced by an additional 30% to $35.

Example 2

In another example of the previous scenario, the consumer may receive analert that their preferred athletic store is offering a plurality ofpromotions for running shoes at a nearby location. One such promotion is$50 for a pair of running shoes, meeting one of the consumer'spreferences. Another such promotion is for buy one, get one free forrunning shoes, which the alert indicates is combinable with the firstpromotion. Upon purchasing the two promotions, the consumer redeems themtogether when purchasing running shoes. As a result, the consumerpurchases two pairs of shoes, the first pair for $50, and the secondpair for free.

1-42. (canceled)
 43. An apparatus, comprising at least one processor andat least one memory for storing instructions that, with the at least oneprocessor, cause the apparatus to: parse promotion text associated witha plurality of promotions, wherein the parsing comprises identifying oneor more redemption parameters from the promotion text, wherein aredemption parameter specifies how and when a promotion may be redeemed;and calculating a score, using binormal separation (BNS), for each wordwithin the one or more redemption parameters, the score representing aprogrammatically generated likelihood that the word identifies aparticular redemption parameter and a significance of the word withinthe one or more redemption parameters; identify one or more promotions,based on the scores calculated for the words within the one or moreredemption parameters, that satisfy consumer preferences associated withat least one promotion request received from a consumer deviceassociated with a consumer; and transmit an impression to the consumerdevice associated with the consumer, wherein the impression comprisescontent indicating availability of the identified promotions thatsatisfy the consumer preferences.
 44. The apparatus of claim 43, whereinthe consumer preferences comprise a provider or promotion category, andone or more promotion qualities.
 45. The apparatus of claim 44, whereina provider, promotion category, and promotion qualities of a promotionare compared to the consumer preferences to identify the one or morepromotions.
 46. The apparatus of claim 43, wherein consumer preferencesfor future promotions are predicted based in part on one or more of asearch history, purchase history, location, or favorites of theconsumer.
 47. The apparatus of claim 43, wherein the one or morepromotion qualities comprises one or more of one or more thresholds orone or more redemption parameters.
 48. The apparatus of claim 47,wherein the one or more thresholds comprise one or more of a pricethreshold, a discount threshold, a quantity threshold, a provider ratingthreshold, or a promotion duration threshold.
 49. The apparatus of claim43, wherein the one or more redemption parameters comprises one or moreof a term, a constraint, a limitation, a rule, or a timing forredemption for the promotion.
 50. The apparatus of claim 43, wherein theone or more redemption parameters comprises a combinability of two ormore promotions.
 51. The apparatus of claim 43, wherein the one or moreredemption parameters comprises a combinability of one of two or morepromotions offered by the same provider, two or more promotions having acommon expiration date, or two or more promotions having a commonredemption location.
 52. The apparatus of claim 50, whereincombinability of two or more promotions is determined based at least inpart on one or more of provider parameters, redemption parameters,database tags, or promotion text associated with each of the two or morepromotions.
 53. A computer program product comprising acomputer-readable storage medium comprising computer program code that,when executed by a processor, causes an apparatus to: parse promotiontext associated with a plurality of promotions, wherein the parsingcomprises identifying one or more redemption parameters from thepromotion text, wherein a redemption parameter specifies how and when apromotion may be redeemed; and calculating a score, using binormalseparation (BNS), for each word within the one or more redemptionparameters, the score representing a programmatically generatedlikelihood that the word identifies a particular redemption parameterand a significance of the word within the one or more redemptionparameters; identify one or more promotions, based on the scorescalculated for the words within the one or more redemption parameters,that satisfy consumer preferences associated with at least one promotionrequest received from a consumer device associated with a consumer; andtransmit an impression to the consumer device associated with theconsumer, wherein the impression comprises content indicatingavailability of the identified promotions that satisfy the consumerpreferences.
 54. The computer program product of claim 53, wherein theconsumer preferences comprise a provider or promotion category, and oneor more promotion qualities.
 55. The computer program product of claim54, wherein a provider, promotion category, and promotion qualities of apromotion are compared to the consumer preferences to identify the oneor more promotions.
 56. The computer program product of claim 53,wherein consumer preferences for future promotions are predicted basedin part on one or more of a search history, purchase history, location,or favorites of the consumer.
 57. The computer program product of claim53, wherein the one or more promotion qualities comprises one or more ofone or more thresholds or one or more redemption parameters.
 58. Thecomputer program product of claim 57, wherein the one or more thresholdscomprise one or more of a price threshold, a discount threshold, aquantity threshold, a provider rating threshold, or a promotion durationthreshold.
 59. The computer program product of claim 53, wherein the oneor more redemption parameters comprises one or more of a term, aconstraint, a limitation, a rule, or a timing for redemption for thepromotion.
 60. The computer program product of claim 53, wherein the oneor more redemption parameters comprises a combinability of one of two ormore promotions, two or more promotions offered by the same provider,two or more promotions having a common expiration date, or two or morepromotions having a common redemption location.
 61. The computer programproduct of claim 60, wherein combinability of two or more promotions isdetermined based at least in part on one or more of provider parameters,redemption parameters, database tags, or promotion text associated witheach of the two or more promotions.
 62. A computer implemented method,comprising: parsing, by processing circuitry, promotion text associatedwith a plurality of promotions, wherein the parsing comprisesidentifying one or more redemption parameters from the promotion text,wherein a redemption parameter specifies how and when a promotion may beredeemed; and calculating a score, using binormal separation (BNS), foreach word within the one or more redemption parameters, the scorerepresenting a programmatically generated likelihood that the wordidentifies a particular redemption parameter and a significance of theword within the one or more redemption parameters; identifying, byprocessing circuitry, one or more promotions, based on the scorescalculated for the words within the one or more redemption parameters,that satisfy consumer preferences associated with at least one promotionrequest received from a consumer device associated with a consumer; andtransmitting, by processing circuitry, an impression to the consumerdevice associated with the consumer, wherein the impression comprisescontent indicating availability of the identified promotions thatsatisfy the consumer preferences.